Cuspidor.



H. L JOHNSON.

CUSPIDOR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 25 1917.

1,240,577 Patentedsept. 18,1917.

' tapering HENRY L. zrormson, or swine, lvirssounr,

ousrrnon;

Specification of Letters 1?atent. I Patented Sept. 18, 1917.

Application filed January 25, 1917.. Serial No. 144,446.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY a citizen of the United States, residing at Ewing, in the county of Lewis and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Guspidors, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to an improved cuspidor and has for its primary object to provide means which will effectively prevent leakage of the contents of the cuspidor when the same is overturned.

It is another and more particular object of the invention to provide a device of the above character embodying a detachablecup or mouth section for the cuspidor having an opening at its base and a valve seat surrounding the same, a depending guide cage secured to said detachable cup section, and

a valve arranged therein adapted for engagement upon said seat to securely close the opening in the cup section when the cuspidor is overturned.

It is a further general object of the inven tion to provide a device for the above purpose which is exceedingly simple in its construction, whereby the cuspidor may be quickly and thoroughly cleaned, and to also increase the convenience and serviceability of such devices in practical use.

WVith the above and other objects in view, my invention consists in thenovel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more fully described, claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which,

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through a cuspidor, illustrating the preferred embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the position of the valve when the cuspidor is turned upon its side;

Fig. 3 is an inverted perspective view of the detachable cup or mouth section of the cuspidor.

Referring in detail to the drawing, 5 designates the body of the cuspidor which has a relatively broad, flat base, and is preferably of frusto-conical form, the side wall to the upper end of said body section. This body section of the cuspidor is preferably formed of sheet metal and the base or bottom wall thereof may be suitably weighted if desired. At its upper open end,

L. JoHNsoN,

the tapering wall of the body 5 is threaded, as indicated. at 6.

,The, mouth or cup section 7 of the cuspidorhas oppositely flaring, cylindrical portions 8 and 9 respectively, integrally connected at their smaller ends. The portion 8 is provided with screw threads for en gagement with the complementary threads 6 on the body section 5. lVithin the cup section 7 ofthe cuspidor, at the juncture of the portions 8 and 9 thereof, a shallow, concavo-convex plate 10 is secured, said plate being radially inclined from its outer edge to a central opening 11 formed therein. Upon the bottom face of said plate, surrounding the opening 11, an annular, rubber. valve seat 12 is suitably secured.

A depending valve cage is carried by the cup section 7 of the cuspidor, said cage consisting of two wires indicated at 18 and 14:respectively, each of said wires having an eye 15 and 16 centrally formed therein, and said eyes being engaged in each other. From these central eyes, each of the wires is laterally extended in opposite directions and then extended longitudinally to provide the parallel arms 17 and 18 respectively, the extremities of which are soldered or otherwise permanently secured to the plate 10 around the valve seat 12. Upon the intermediate horizontal portions of the wires 15 and 17 a rubber disk on seat 12 is secured. Upon this rubber seat, a valve element 20 normally rests, said valve element being freely movable between the wire arms 17 and 18 and having one of its ends conically formed as at 21.

In the operation of the device, it will be understood that if the cuspidor is accidentally overturned and disposed upon its side as seen in Fig. 2 of the drawing, the valve element 20 will move in the cage attached to the cup section 7 and the tapering or pointed end 21 thereof will project through the opening 11 in the plate 10, said valve element fitting tightly against the annular valve seat 12, thereby securely closing the opening and preventing the outflow of the liquid therethrough. Immediately upon the return of the cuspidor to its upright position, the valve element 20 will drop by gravity in the cage upon the seat or disk 19 so that its end 21 will be disposed below the opening 11 and thus permit of the free and unobstructed inflow of the liquid. This valve element 20 may be formed of lead, glass, or any other suitable material.

From the foregoing description, taken in conection with the accompanying drawing, the construction, manner of operation and several advantages of the invention Will be clearly and fully understood. The cup section 7 may be readily unthreaded or detached from the body section 5 of the cuspidor so that access may be had to the interior of both sections and the same thoroughly cleaned By the provision of my improved automatically operating valve, the escape of the contents of the cuspidor and possible injury to the carpet or other floor covering is obviated. The device is also relatively simple in its construction and may manifestly be produced at small manufacturing cost.

While I have shown and described the preferred construction and arrangement of the several parts of the device, it is to be understood that the same are susceptible of considerable modification therein and I, therefore, reserve the privilege of adopting all such legitimate changes as may be fairly embodied within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having thus fully described my inven tion, what I desire to claim and secure by Letters Patent is A cuspidor including a body section, a detachable mouth section, a concavo-convex plate arranged centrally in the latter section of the cuspidor and centrally provided with an opening, a rubber valve seat fixed upon the under side of said plate and surrounding said opening, a cage consisting of two wires having their intermediate portions disposed at right angles to each other and provided with interlocked eyes, the end portions of said wires being extended in spaced parallel relation and fixed at their edges to said plate around the valve seat, a rubber disk fixed to the intermediate portions of said. wires within the cage, and a gravity movable valve element arranged in said cage and adapted for engagement upon the annular seat to seal said opening when the cuspidor is overturned.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature in the presence of two witneses.

HENRY L. JOHNSON.

VVitnesses W. E. BRAGG, E. L. NEwLoN.

topics of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

